1

February 9th — The Feast of Hannah Grier Coome, Mother Foundress of SSJD 91st Anniversary of Mother Hannah’s Death in 1921

“Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5)

The EagleThe Eagle Epiphany 2012

2

Dear Associates, Oblates and friends of SSJD,

May God bless you all throughout 2012 and may each of you know God’s love, joy and peace.

I would like to tell you in words and photographs what has been happening since the last issue of The Eagle in the fall, both here and at St. John’s House in Victoria, BC. At the Convent we hosted a Discovery Day in September which was well attended. Associates, Oblates, and friends of the Sisterhood bring others who might have an interest in the Sisterhood to learn more about us and the resources we provide to help meet people’s spiritual hunger. We’ve also begun a new contemplative prayer service every Thursday at Morning Prayer: we begin with a brief prayer, sit together in silent meditation for thirty minutes, and end with a few prayers and the dismissal.

At the end of September Sr. Anita from the Order of the Holy Paraclete (OHP) in Yorkshire, England, came

to the Convent for a month’s exchange visit. While she was here, she spoke about her work with OHP in Zimbabwe at our Women’s Roundtable in October and was very well received. Everyone appreciated her delightful sense of humour. We took Sr. Anita on many special trips to give her a feel for our great country including Niagara Falls, the Muskokas

and Algonquin Park, a weekend visit to Montreal, and various places in and around Toronto. We thoroughly enjoyed her time with us although it seemed far too short. This year Sr Helen Claire will go from SSJD to visit OHP in Whitby. You’ll hear about her visit in the fall edition of The Eagle.

Sr. Louise went to join the household in Victoria, BC, this fall and is delighted to be back in the province of her birth. Sr. Jocelyn returned to the Convent. Sr. Dorothy was expecting to go to Victoria in November, but I realized that we really needed her at the Convent, so she is now helping Sr. Constance Joanna in the Guest House. (Flexibility is a much appreciated characteristic in a Sister!) Sr. Brenda, along with her responsibilities as head of the household at St. John’s House, BC, has been taking the Jubilee Course for Spiritual Directors and has also continued with the “Returning to Spirit” Healing and Reconciliation program for Aboriginals and the church/non-aboriginals around the Indian Residential School issues. Sr. Sarah Jean was in Edmonton this fall to visit Associates. She and resident Oblate, Doreen Davidson are the other members of that household. The Western and Prairie Provinces of Associates now report to St. John’s House in Victoria.

In October we had two admissions to the Sisterhood. Susanne Prue was re-admitted as a Postulant on October 20th and Sian Phillibert (see photo), on October 25th. Susanne is working in the Guest House and Sian in our Chapel. Both are involved in the EFM (Education for Ministry) program at the Convent along with the other novices.

Thanks to some generous donations through the Mother Hannah Appeal for the Sisters in the Infirmary, we were able to purchase and install a new walk-in tub. This has been a real asset to the Sisters in the infirmary. We are so grateful to everyone who contributed to the Mother Hannah Appeal for the care of these Sisters who have given their lives to prayer and service for others and who now need care themselves. In addition we were able to get a new electric Hoyer Lift to assist us in moving Sisters when they are incapacitated. Again, our thanks.

November is budget time in the Sisterhood and we have been working hard to reduce our costs. We had several large unexpected costs this year (repair of a leak in the roof and of the bell tower, and replacement of a car following an accident). In tightening our belts, we have had to say goodbye to some of our staff (May Whyte and Lorraine Bell) and realign job positions for more volunteer and part-time work. Our part-time Fundraising Director, Cathy Waiten, will be leaving us at the end of January to take on other work. Sr. Doreen is taking on a more active role in the Fundraising Office and will be assisted part-time by Lynne Samways-Hiltz and Mary Balicka. In December the Sisters also said goodbye to Boris and Maria Davidowich who retired after 20 years of working with us.

The Sisters were part of the opening of the new Ambulatory Care Wing of St. John’s Rehab Hospital. We were presented with a lovely plaque honouring the Sisterhood’s foundation and work for the Hospital since 1937. You can see the plaque in the dramatic new front entrance of the hospital.

3

On December 6th, Sr. Susanne was received as Novice after a shortened Postulancy. She is feeling quite settled again in the Sisterhood. We were delighted when both her daughters, Chrissy’s husband, and baby granddaughter came one evening for Evening Prayer and supper following.

We had a splendid evening with Don Morrison, formerly COO of Research in Motion and featured speaker at the Bishop’s Company Dinner in 2010. He told us about his new undertaking to make spiritual resources more readily available to anyone who is interested. It sounds like a wonderful project and we are excited about how the Sisterhood might connect with this new venture.

You may be familiar with the hymn, “O come, O come Emmanuel”. The hymn is based on a series of antiphons for the Song of Mary (known as the O Antiphons because each one begins with “O”) used in the last week before Christmas. Each of the O’s gives another biblically-based title for Christ. Sr. Constance Joanna gave a wonderful Advent Quiet Day based on these Great O’s to a full house. This year we held our first Advent Lessons and Carol Service based on the Great O’s. We hope to do this again

next year so watch for the date and time on our website. For each of the “O’s” a Sister placed a symbol on or in front of the altar.

Sr. Constance celebrated her 75th Profession Anniversary on December 21st (see pp 9-11). It is quite an achievement for a woman who entered the Sisterhood at age 30. On Christmas Eve she was heard singing “O Holy Night” to herself.

Sr. Anitra is now resident in St. Hilda’s Towers, happily ensconced in the apartment once inhabited by our former Associate, Barbara Sinclair, who died unexpectedly this fall. Her e-mail remains the same if you would like to contact her.

Sr. Merle was very excited to receive a special computer with a very large screen through the assistance of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Now that she can see the much brighter

and larger print on the screen, she is once more able to read and send emails.

During an unusually quiet week in December, the Guest House office was enlarged and renovated. There is now a front office for looking after the needs of our guests and a more peaceful back office where the work of the staff can be done without as many distractions. One of the reasons

we moved from the Botham Road Convent to the Cummer Avenue site was in response to the growing demand for guest accommodation. People continue to

hunger for a place where prayer is continually practised and peace is palpable. Being a resident monastic community gives our Guest House a ministry surrounded and upheld by the daily prayer of the Sisters. Perhaps that is why we had a full Guest House for both the Christmas Retreat and the New Year’s Retreat. If you want to experience a prayerful Christmas or New Year’s at the Convent next year, you may want to book ahead to ensure that there is space.

We wish you all a healthy and happy 2012.

Sr. Elizabeth Ann, SSJD

4

I have a vivid memory of a Sunday morning back when I was a teenager and my family was living in Ottawa. My father was rector of St. John’s Church; it was a flourishing parish . . . . my father was on the radio, many interesting politicians attended. I was heavily involved in the choir, scouts, youth groups, etc.

But I was going through that usual rebellion of the teenage years and when I got up that morning I announced in a self-righteous voice that I was not going to church anymore because the church was completely full of hypocrites.

My mother just looked at me calmly and said, “That’s all right son, come along. There’s always room for one more.”

I think of that experience every time I hear today’s Gospel story. Once more the wisdom and down-to-earth sensitivity of Jesus and his teaching dazzles me. His insight into human foibles is so clear and even understood with some empathy. And the imagery he uses is so vivid—the vulnerability of an eye and the discomfort of a huge stick or even a miniscule speck, make us squirm.

Probably all of us should hang our heads when we read this passage because, sadly, it is so easy to slip into smugness and duplicitous judgments of others and be blind to one’s own inadequacies and defects.

As Herbie O’Driscoll says, “Modern psychology has made us painfully aware that the log in our own eye is often what prompts us to focus on the speck in another’s eye.”

But then Herb goes on with a comment that is very perceptive and unsettling: “In other words,” he says, “we tend to project the shadowed parts of ourselves on to others, making them the opponent or the enemy or the personification of some evil that is, in fact, part of our own nature and most of the time we are totally unaware of what is happening.”

That thought sets me back on my heels. It makes me think of all those places where I have made judgments about others and challenges me to question if those are the very characteristics that I am afraid to admit are part of my own interior personhood. Am I ashamed of that part of my personality and am I willfully ignoring it in me but seeing it vividly in others? What an alarming concept.

It becomes clear then that our spiritual maturity in this area depends on a couple of important elements:

One, is probably to pray with a purpose of delving into our attitudes, even questioning them over time and perhaps deconstructing them, taking them back to their basics and exploring where and how they came to be.

Secondly, is to practice mindfulness, to be aware of the sacredness of each moment and what we are bringing to that moment.

And thirdly, would be to find trusted individuals who will help us to get the barriers out of our inner vision, someone whom we invite to help us in our journey of discernment. It will, of course, have to be someone whom we trust, someone whom we will permit to critique us without us puffing up in outrage. It will, therefore, require us to find the humility to listen and mature as a spiritual being.

In practical terms I suppose one of the challenges for me would be my perception of what is happening in our Anglican Church and the Anglican Communion. I find it so disturbing and intractable and yet I hear the specific command in the introduction of our passage today. For some reason, even though it comes just prior to our reading and sets the tone, it is not included. It says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Dr. Philip Turner, interim dean of the Episcopal seminary in Austin, Texas, explains, “The arrival of God’s Kingdom is marked by love seeking reconciliation. Life within the church is marked by love seeking reconciliation. A failure on the part of the church to display such love will be judged with the result that the house intended to be God’s house will fall.”.. and as Luke says, “the ruin of that house will be great”.

Very sobering words from Turner, and I don’t know where to go with them. I have tried to be understanding and accepting of the Network and the negativity of some African and South and North American bishops. But am I blind to something within myself in this case? It may be a shaded spot for me and it will be an ongoing struggle to comprehend it. In the meantime I probably have lots of other logs to get out and I am working on them.

May we all work on those painful logs and specks in our eyes, knowing we have the comfort, support and benefit of the Spirit. With wisdom and hope we listen to the insightful words of our Teacher on this challenging journey in the faith. Amen.

Archbishop Terence Finlay Homily, September 9, 2011

Luke 6: 39-42

What Log? Whose Eye?

5

In the shadow of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code that gathered fame a few years ago, I felt the need, at that time, to shed a bit of light onto the life of Mary Magdalene. This has led me to give several retreats and Quiet Days.

Why has this enigmatic woman from the New Testament made such a lasting impression on my life? Each time a new book about her life or her ministry is published, I’m the first in line wanting to read it. I feel I have to ask myself, why? What makes her stand out above the rest of the people who surrounded Jesus?

Mary Magdalene’s life, as shared with us in scripture, gives us a glimpse of a truly remarkable woman. From the depths of despair, through the healing grace of Jesus, she became the “Apostle’s Apostle”, demonstrating to me the true meaning of faithfulness and discipleship.

Her life resonates with many women throughout the Christian community, possibly because she was a woman who became well-known and respected in a male-dominated society. That alone sets her apart. Her journey from bearer of demons to bearer of precious ointments touches those who have walked those pathways themselves.

She was one of several women who followed Jesus during his ministry and provided for him and his disciples. Yet Mary Magdalene was one of the few who is mentioned by name. This indicates to me her special relationship with Our Lord. According to the Gospel of John, Mary was the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection — the one who was given the task of bearing this news to the other disciples.

However, it is the intimate relationship that she had with Our Lord that touches me most deeply. It was while participating in the Ignatian Prayer Exercises that I first found myself walking hand in hand with Mary. She became my guide and my confidante.

Part of these exercises involves praying with the imagination, putting yourself in the scene depicted in the Gospel and becoming part of it. It was Mary Magdalene who accompanied me, fielding my questions and reactions. She stood with me at the well as Jesus spoke to the unknown woman. She walked with me along the roads that took Jesus from town to town. She stood with me as I knelt at the foot of the cross. It was by allowing her to journey with me along my path of introspection that I really got to know who she was and how important her moments with Jesus must have been.

It was the faithful Mary who walked with Jesus along those dusty hot roads, and who very likely spent her evenings talking with him. I imagined her and Jesus talking over the events of the day as he shared his ministry with her. It was the “healed” Mary, who gave her new life to Christ, and was with him to the end, when she stood at the foot of the cross and watched as her friend was crucified. That act of faithfulness reaches out to me over the centuries and has changed me forever.

I can only imagine the joy she must have felt spending time with Jesus. How she put herself at risk journeying with him and how she mourned there in the garden.

She is the disciple I would hope to be. She is the woman whose strength and stamina I would hope to achieve. She was the friend of Jesus I want to become.

Sr. Louise, SSJD

Reflections of the Life of Mary Magdalene

Mary of Magdala, teach us your faithfulness, teach us endurance in good times and hard. Pray that we too may be centred on sanity,

loving our Saviour and trusting our God.

a hymn written for SSJD by Sr. Sue, SSJD

Mary of Magdala drowned in insanity all but consumed by sev’n devils of hell;

shunned by her kinsfolk, cast out by society. Mary of Magdala floundered and fell.

Mary of Magdala found a phenomenon Jesus the healer, revealer of light;

sanity came back as demons were driven out; Mary of Magdala reclaimed her life.

Mary of Magdala followed her rescuer, spent of her fortune to help and support;

quiet disciple and witness to miracles. Mary of Magdala sped Jesus’ work.

Mary of Magdala stood by an empty tomb weeping and grieving and lonely and cold;

Jesus appeared to her, said “Do not cling to me”. Mary of Magdala knew joy’s bright gold.

6

Sr. Elizabeth was born in Vancouver, BC, joining a brother nine years older, and attended Crofton House School for 12 years. She loved photography, hiking, and camping and was extensively involved in the Girl Guides which led to her attending an International Guide Camp in Switzerland in 1957. Later as a Guide Captain she met (Sr.) Doreen who told her about SSJD. Although planning a secretarial career, she spent a year at Neuchatel Junior College in Switzerland where she took up skiing and fencing along with developing her love of travelling which would later include much of Europe, Australia and the Far East. Back in Vancouver she worked in the tourist and travel industry. While working with a new employee, Elizabeth was told, “You should become a teacher!” A B.Ed. at UBC followed where she was “urged to go into Honours English”. Travel and church interests increased culminating in two years teaching in Japan as part of the Anglican Church’s Volunteers in Mission. On her return she joined the staff at Crofton House “teaching English and religious studies and stayed for 26½ years”. Having learned earlier from Sr. Doreen about SSJD, Elizabeth had become an Associate and, “in 1969 felt called to the Community but my parents were unsupportive, so I gave up the idea”. In 1984 Elizabeth was married “gaining not only a husband

but two sons”. In late 1992 a brain tumour ended Ben’s life. In her Associate annual report in 1995 Elizabeth noted she “was part of a small group of women searching for something more, perhaps Oblates”. She attended The Women at a Crossroads in 1996 without any thought of joining the Convent. After four days of the programme she felt a call to the religious life, and entered SSJD in 1997 at age 55. Highlights have included her time in Montreal, being Director of Associates, Novitiate Director (“It’s a great privilege to nurture new members”), leading retreats and quiet days, assisting Sr. Elizabeth-Ann, and editing The Eagle.

Although born in Peekskill, New York, Sr. Sue’s childhood was spent in New York City, Boston and Chicago before she went to university in St. Louis. After working full-time for several years she attended the University of Pennsylvania, including a year in Rome on a Fulbright Fellowship. In 1984 she returned to New York City to work and do further research, commenting “I was still an atheist”. While dealing with health and family relationship issues, she began to sense a developing relationship with God. “My early concept of God was like a great big electric blanket wrapped around me and keeping me warm and comforted.” After completing her Ph.D. in ancient history in 1991, she went to Brigham Young University in Utah to teach “and found my spiritual home on earth in the rocks and valleys”. Before her baptism in 1990, she sensed a desire for a community based on a common faith. In 1999 the desire for community again surfaced. A new spiritual director helped her to sense a call to the religious life, and internet contact “put me in touch with SSJD”. She came to the Convent thinking “I really don’t want to like it up there, but I got here and felt at home.” Following her discernment time, she shocked her still-atheist family (three sisters) and friends by saying: “I want to join a religious community”, and entered in 2000 at age 50. “Life in

Community has been very healing. . . . I learned that I could do all sorts of things with the help of God. . . . Now as Associate Director, it’s challenging and it’s wonderful.” As well, Sr. Sue is involved in Natural Church Development, EFM for the Convent and the Diocese of Toronto, along with continuing her creative expressions as poet and hymn-writer.

Hamilton, Ontario, was Sr. Dorothy’s birthplace, but she moved to Burlington following her adoption at the age of four, and lived there until she was 10. She has a younger sister and brother, an older sister and, until his recent death, an older brother—all of whom were adopted. After moving to Bracebridge, she attended school taking business and commercial courses and became a legal secretary. “At age 17 I asked my priest about Anglican orders and he contacted SSJD who advised that I had to be 21”. She married in 1973, had two sons, and “was an at-home Mom and returned to work in 1989”. Her interests had included horseback riding, cross-country running, nature and the out-of-doors, church groups, Bible studies and volunteering at a retirement home. After her divorce in 1995 Dorothy, in frustration, explored a variety of jobs and activities “seeking the path God was calling me to”. A visit to the Convent was suggested and “I knew as soon as I entered the door”. Weekend visits in 2000 to experience the Community, “a talk regarding becoming an ‘Associate’ only it came out ‘Sister’—and the process started”. Dorothy entered in September 2001 at age 48. Highlights have included “learning and experiencing community in a different way when I thought I was being called to a deeper sense of prayer”. Regarding her time

at Maison “I didn’t want to go, but it was the best experience I could have had . . . . Every ministry has its own blessings and gives something God wants you to have.” Throughout her experience with breast cancer, Sr. Dorothy was very aware of much caring support from all levels of the Community. “One of the things I really like about Community is the way we work towards consensus—discussing and making decisions together—something the monastic life can offer the world.” A personal highlight for Sr. Dorothy this fall was attaining the status of “new Grandma”!

Our Lives of

7

Born in Sudbury, Sr. Elizabeth Ann recalls “a happy city where multi-cultural people helped each other through hard times—a good place to grow up”. She was one of six children (but two brothers died in childhood). She now has two brothers and a sister. Her parents sponsored several children through Foster Parents Plan including one foster brother from Korea whom she met this summer when he came to visit Canada. At age 10 she moved to Toronto and connected with St. Matthew’s Islington. Then at age 16 she moved to North York and joined St. John’s York Mills. High school, mainly through the Alternate and Independent Studies Program, was followed by Forestry at Lakehead University while attending church in Port Arthur. Having had earlier involvement with church pageants, Sunday School, and Junior Auxiliary, she joined the choir, drama group and became a server. She began to explore Christian Meditation, reading The Cloud of Unknowing, The Philokalia, and going for a month’s visit to the Convent. “I was caught up in the silent pauses in the recitation of the psalms; the touch of God was in that silence.” She returned to university and then worked at Weall and Cullen Nursery Garden Centre and in 1987, entered SSJD at age 30. Her interests have included science fiction reading, Chinese brush painting and art as an expression of spirituality, calligraphy and writing Haikus. “I love to cook and I love to bake!” Highlights for Sr. Elizabeth Ann in Community include her time in Montreal “helping to open the house and getting the ministry going; living in a different kind of culture. . . .I love life in general—there’s ups and downs.” Called back from Montreal in 2000 to be assistant to the Reverend Mother, she was then elected to that position in 2005, and states that “although you experience difficulties at times, you really get to understand what is the grace of the office. . . . God really does sustain and help you do what you could not do alone . . . . It’s really quite amazing!”

The path to the Convent can be rather circuitous. Although a cradle Anglican, like many others Sr. Helen Claire didn’t know Anglican convents existed until the 1980s. “I grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, towards the end of the colonial era. I had an idyllic childhood in a gentler time and place.” After graduating from the University of the West Indies in Spanish and economics, she worked with the tourist board for two years then emigrated in 1970 to Toronto, “the city I know best and love,” she says. “I’ve been here ever since, except for a year in Paris to try and learn French and a year at our branch house in Montreal.” For 13 years Helen Claire was with the Ontario provincial civil service in communications working on internal house publications. When she returned to the church in 1984, she met an SSJD associate who introduced her to the Sisterhood and the Convent. Laid off in June 1996, she did the Women at a Crossroads programme that July, stating clearly on the application form: “I’m not interested in the religious life but I am at a crossroads.” When the programme ended, seven of that group expressed the intention to join the Convent. “I was not one of them.” Months and travels went by and then she returned for a retreat and realized “why my job-hunting had been half-hearted”. Entering in 1998 at age 54, Helen Claire has worked mainly in the Associate Office and Guest House. She says, “My new assignment as sacristan in the chapel suits me as I prefer to work in the background and am good at details.” She ended by saying, “If you want to learn a language, you go and live with people who speak it. I came to SSJD to learn the language of love. It will take me the rest of my life to do so.”

Sr. Louise was born in Victoria, B.C. her parents’ first child, followed three years later by her sister. She attended early school there before moving to Chemainus, BC, for high school and then to Nanaimo for college. Her interests included swimming, sewing, ballet, figure-skating, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders, eventually taking on leadership roles. (She still does warm-up exercises as “it’s really helped with maintaining my joint flexibility”.) “We always had a dog which helped me to have a love of animals.” Louise was married for a short time (very young) and has a son and two grandchildren. She worked at Eaton’s in a variety of departments, then back to college for computer courses and into office work. When that company closed “I found it difficult to find work within that field—I was just too old”. Louise finally settled on a seniors’ residence where “getting to know those folks greatly enriched my life”. This was a turning point for her as she became very restless in her spiritual life. She learned about SSJD and attended the discernment programme in 1999. “This seemed to be the answer to the deep calling I was feeling at the time—and it still is.” Entering the Community at age 47, Sr. Louise’s first branch house experience was at SJRH which “was—and remains—one of the most fulfilling ministries I’ve been involved in”. Other highlights for her included trips to Anglican/Episcopal religious communities which “helped me to discern more clearly my call, not just to the religious life but to SSJD in particular”. She is now “back in Victoria with a new ministry—Oblate Director—a position I take very seriously and with deep regard for the women who are Oblates”. Through family and marriage difficulties, “I have always felt God’s presence with me—and now . . . I have the love and prayers of my Community and I have Sisters that I love and pray for.”

Love and Service

8

In a world desperate for peace and reconciliation and in a society with little space and quiet to hear the still, small voice of God, the Sisters of St. John the Divine are committed to helping people find that peace and to hear that quiet voice of God. As we do not earn salaries, our life and witness require funding. For most of our ministries, we receive little or no remuneration. Our Associates, Oblates, families and friends of the Community are essential partners in our ministry through their prayerful support and generous ongoing financial donations.

Our founding Associates in 1884 started an Endowment Fund to support the establishment of the new Sisterhood and the work God called us to do. Without the help of our Associates, Oblates and friends over the years, our ministry would not exist. Today we are working with our investment managers and advisors to maximize the return on our investments in order to build that fund and so cover our expenses.

We would like to thank our donors for their generosity in 2011. Including the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in your charitable giving is a wonderful way to link your life with our mission and ministry. It helps us build upon our foundation and ensures that our fund continues to grow to sustain us into the future.

As well as these ongoing donations in support of our ministry, during the past year (2011) we had a special appeal focussing on the lives of our retired and infirm Sisters living with us in community. Our goal was to raise $100,000 to help with the ongoing costs of our infirmary. One of our dreams was to be able to install a walk-in bath tub that our Sisters would be able to use. Through the generosity of many who contributed to this Mother Hannah Fund, we were able to realize this dream! Sister Jessica, who oversees our infirmary, is seen relaxing in the new walk-in bathtub. Already it is very popular, and has been such a blessing to our Sisters. Thank you for helping us to make this possible.

There are many ways that you can help support our life and ministry. We always welcome your prayers. You can become a part of the ministry of the Sisterhood by volunteering at the Convent or at St. John’s House in Victoria. Come as a guest or invite the Sisters to come and preach or lead a retreat or quiet day in your parish. Help us financially through donations to the Sisterhood.

Here are some of the ways that you can make a donation to the Sisterhood:

• WriteachequemadeouttoTheSisterhoodofSt.JohntheDivine. • UseyourVisaorMasterCard—arrangethisbycontactingSisterDoreenintheFundraisingOffice: development@ssjd.ca or call 416-226-2201, ext. 303. • DonateonlinethroughPayPal which offers a secure online site that is easy to use. • Ifyouwouldliketosupportusmonthly,wenowhaveaPreauthorized Remittance option (PAR). Contact development@ssjd.ca or Sister Doreen at 416-226-2201, ext. 303. You will be sent a form to fill out and return along with a voided cheque. • RemembertheSisterhoodinyourWillorasabeneficiaryinyour Insurance Policy or you can make a donation of securities. For these and other planned-giving options, contact development@ssjd.ca or Sister Doreen at 416-226-2201 ext. 303.

Thank you for your continued financial support and for your prayers. We are truly grateful for the kindness and generosity that we receive daily from our friends and benefactors. Your continued love and support of our Community is remembered daily in our prayers and we trust that God will continue to bless both you and our Community as we serve the world God loves.

Sister Doreen, SSJD

News from the Fundraising Office

9

Sr. Constance was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 2, 1904, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple also known as Candlemas, and Ground Hog Day, which she delights in reminding us of every year. Her grandfather was

the founder and editor of a newspaper called the Afro-American in Baltimore and her father was the principal of an elementary school for fifty years.

Constance had a wonderful trip to Europe in 1929 with her older sister. She is seen here in Rome and Lausanne.

Constance graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1928 with a B.S. in Education and taught in Baltimore until the end of 1932, when she came to Toronto to test her vocation in the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine because segregation prevented her from joining the All Saints Sisters of the Poor in Baltimore, the Community she loved. She was admitted on January 13th, 1933, in the middle of a flu epidemic at the Convent.

After her Life Profession in 1936 she spent some time at the school in Aurora where she taught mentally challenged children. In August, 1938, she was sent to Qu’Appelle Diocesan

School (QDS) as a “junior mistress” under Sr. Francesca. She had seventeen challenging years there, becoming Sr. Francesca’s assistant headmistress in 1940, acting headmistress in 1944 and finally headmistress in 1947.

Sr. Joyce and Sr. Beryl have both known Sr. Constance since 1943; Sr. Joyce entered the Community in 1943 and Sr. Beryl was sent to be a boarder at QDS in 1943 and knew Sr. Constance first as a teacher and then as headmistress. Sr. Beryl says that “Sr. Constance was the first black person she had ever met apart from sleeping-car porters on the railway.” She was “to become someone Sr. Constance would care about for the rest of her life”.

Back row: (Sr.) Beryl Stone as a teacher (far left) 1953; Front row: Sr. Audrey, Sr. Constance, Sr. Elvira and Novice Margaret Ann.

In 1955 Sr. Constance returned to the Convent to be the Assistant Warden of Associates and Guest Mistress. In 1958, she became the Sister-in-Charge of the Church Home for the Aged where she worked until 1972. She kept everyone busy doing something, especially the Sisters who worked there. Whenever she saw a Sister, she would say, “Sister, three things: do. . . . and . . . and . . . .” Usually the Sister hadn’t had time to complete the last 2 or 3 tasks assigned to her. She completed her Certificate in Administration of Homes for the Aged at McMaster University in 1970.

With Fr. Charles Feilding she was one of the founding members of the Canadian Institute of Religion and Gerontology in 1975. Through this Institute and with the help of others, she produced A Book of Prayers in Large Print, designed a “Pray and Play” cart, and began a ministry of pastoral visitation to shut-ins, nursing homes and Homes for Seniors. For many years she was an associate pastoral care co-ordinator at Castlewood-Wychwood Towers. In 1990 her 18 years of service as chaplain to the residents of Lambert Lodge and Castleview-Wychwood Towers was celebrated by the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto.

Sister Constance Murphy, SSJDcelebrated 75 years in Life Profession on December 21st, 2011

10

In 1975 she was appointed as chair of the Diocesan Committee on Aging by the bishop of the Diocese. She was also a Canadian observer at the White House Conference on Aging in 1971 and 1981. From September, 1976 to September, 1977 she studied at the University of Michigan and received her M.A. in Adult Education and a Certificate in Gerontology at the age of 73.

Sr. Constance setting off for work on her bicycle (1977) and working in the gerontology office in 1978.

Sr. Constance continued working with the elderly almost to the present day. In 1977 she was appointed the Diocesan Co-ordinator for Work with the Elderly; apparently she made annual attempts to “resign” but the “bishop bade me carry on year by year”. She finally resigned in 1983 so that a paid, qualified person could work for the Diocese—The Rev. Keith Nevell. In October 1980 she was asked to help out at St. John’s Convalescent Hospital because both Sr. May and Sr. Christine had fractured hips. From then on she worked part-time at the Hospital as a pastoral visitor and part-time doing the same work outside the Community.

Honourary Degrees and Other Awards:

In 1982 she received an Honourary Doctor of Divinity from the University of Emmanuel College in Saskatoon and in 1984 an Honourary Doctorate in Sacred Letters from Trinity College, Toronto.

Sr. Constance was always looking for materials which would be helpful to the elderly. She saved everything and found ways to use it all. When it was time to move from the Convent on Botham Road to our

new location on Cummer Avenue, Sr. Constance still had boxes of materials which she would take on her visits to the elderly most of whom were younger than she was.

In 1985 Sr. Constance received an Ontario Senior Citizens Achievement Award from Premier David Peterson in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. She was one of 500 nominated for the award and one of 22 seniors honoured for the work they had accomplished after retirement.

In April, 1986 she was presented with a Certificate for Volunteer Services in recognition of services provided for residents of the Metro Homes for the Aged.

Nothing stopped Sr. Constance from her pastoral visiting— not even a fresh snowfall—although she was confined to the Convent for a few months after she broke a bone in her foot while running through the infirmary in her late 90’s.

In 1997 she was elected an Honourary Member of the Ontario Gerontology Association. The letter which she received to inform her of this decision referred to her as “a pioneer in the study of aging both at McMaster University and the University of Michigan. As one of the subjects in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, you have added to our knowledge of the aging process”.

The Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation from His Excellency the Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn. (1992)

11

Sr. Constance making a speech at the launching of her book.

Sr. Constance produced several books: A Book of Prayers in Large Print; Sing Your Way Home; and in the 1990’s she wrote her autobiography, Other Little Ships, which was officially launched on September 27, 1997.

In the International Year of Older Persons (1999), Sr. Constance received the Toronto Senior of the Year Award in recognition of her ongoing ministry to seniors. The award was presented by Toronto Mayor, Mel Lastman, at a function at Metro Hall on November 2. At that time Sr. Constance was regularly visiting Castleview-Wychwood Towers where she ran a Bible Study, a Christmas Card Club and made personal visits to elderly and bed-ridden residents.

Shortly after this event Sr. Constance went to Israel (November, 1999) with the Rev. Leslie Barclay and a group of parishioners from the Church of the Annunciation.

On January 11, 2004, Sr. Constance was made a Canon of the Cathedral. She is seen here with Archbishop Terence Finlay.

On February 2nd, 2004, she celebrated her 100th Birthday with many friends and several members of her family.

On her 105th birthday, in 2009, she received a congratulatory certificate from the U.S. Consul General, John R. Nay, honouring her as the oldest American in Canada.

On December 4, 2009, the newly appointed American Ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson came to Toronto to present Sr. Constance with a personally signed letter of congratulations from the recently elected President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Sr. Constance has made many friends over the past 78 years in SSJD. One of her most faithful friends and personal chauffeur for several years was Mr. Erwin Hart who came each week to take Sr. Constance to visit her elderly friends. He is seen with her here on her 70th Profession Anniversary.

Sr. Elizabeth, SSJD

12

Silent SoundsThe wind is silent through the trees

The window’s pane between us holds the sound at bay.

To see and not to hear the voice of God that looks so near.

The measured movement of the stately trees Calls for my attention but I do not hear.

I can only see the sounds.

How long will they keep trying before their voice goes still?

Is this what it’s like when pain in me puts up a wall Through which I can see

but cannot hear

God?

M.L. Stewart, Oblate SSJD

Are You at a Crossroads in Your Life?Are you considering a career change?

Are you looking for “something more” in your life? Do you have a thirst for God? A hunger for prayer?

Do you desire to serve God in a new way? Would you like to experience life in community?

Then you may be interested in attending a free 3½ week program (June 29 – July 22, 2012)

to discern where God is calling you.

At the same time you will have the opportunity to experience the life of prayer, love, and service in an Anglican monastic community of women.

Women who are interested should contact Kelly Clark, The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine,

St. John’s Convent, 233 Cummer Ave, Toronto, ON M2M 2E8

Phone: 416-226-2201, Ext. 301. Fax: 416-222-4442 Email: convent@ssjd.ca. Website: www.ssjd.ca

Applications for Women at a Crossroads, 2012 must be in by March 31, 2012.

Altar LinensAltar linens may be purchased from Sr. Jocelyn, SSJD, at the Convent. All linens are hand-sewn from Irish Linen. Items which may be purchased include Fair Linens, Credence Cloths, Purificators, Lavabo Towels, Baptismal Towels, Fair Veils, Palls on Plexi Glass, Corporals and Sick Communion Sets.

For details, please contact Sr. Jocelyn: jocelyn@ssjd.ca.

Telephone: 416-226-2201 Fax: 416-226-2131

The Houses of the Sisterhoodwww.ssjd.ca

The Eagle is published several times a year by the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, St. John’s Convent, Toronto, ON M2M 2E8. An annual donation of $10 to help cover the cost would be greatly appreciated. Please let us know

promptly of any changes of address. The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine is a registered charity. Our charitable donation number is BN 11925 4266 RR0001.

St. John’s Convent233 Cummer Avenue, Toronto, ON M2M 2E8

416-226-2201; Fax: 416-226-2131 email: convent@ssjd.ca

St. John’s House, B.C.3937 St. Peters Road, Victoria, BC V8P 2J9

250-920-7787; Fax: 250-920-7709email: bchouse@ssjd.ca

Can you identify these three people? Left to right: Sr. Su-sanne (Novice); Susan Murphy (Alongsider) and Sr. Sue, SSJD (Associate Director)